Call for VicRoads Kew building sale to be redirected into rural roads

For generations, it was the headquarters of the Country Roads Board. Now up for sale, should the proceeds go towards rural road repair?

Millions raised from the sale of the old Country Roads Board headquarters may be redirected towards regional road repair.

The Weekly Times understands a sizeable proportion of the revenue raised from the sale of the long-standing VicRoads site will be allocated to road infrastructure upgrades, though the government keeping its cards close to its chest on exactly where it will be directed.

Opened in 1961, the Kew address was established as a permanent based for the CRB and becamed well-known to generations of Victorians through licence and registration letterheads.

The Allan government confirmed last year it would sell the 2.5 hectare site on Denmark Street, with real estate experts speculating the blue-chip address could net Spring Street more than $100 million.

Former chairman of Country Roads Board Tom Russell outside the VicRoads building in Kew back in 2011.

A spokesman for State Roads Minister Melissa Horne said “no decisions had been made” when asked about where the proceeds of the VicRoads HQ sale will ultimately be directed.

Instead, the government noted some of the site will be reserved for public housing.

Municipal Association of Victoria president David Clark said redirecting the $100 million towards regional roads would be welcome, although the bill was “three or four times greater”.

“Given that history with the Country Roads Board, it would make sense to have that $100 million put back into the regional road network,” he said.

“But the expense involved will be far greater than $100 million, we’re talking three, four, five times that (in terms of cost). I think many across regional Victoria would welcome it as a step in the right direction.”

Opposition roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said while government property sales went back into general revenue as a matter of course, it would be fitting for the government to recognise the need to significantly boost regional road funding.

“Our regional roads are appalling and the government is scrambling to cover its debts everywhere. Instead of wasting money on cost over-runs, the government should be putting money from sales such as this into fixing country roads,” Mr O’Brien said.

Last year, the Allan government quietly dissolved Regional Roads Victoria, six years after the VicRoads subsidiary was established by former premier Dan Andrews.

A plaque outside the Country Roads Board office in Kew.

The Weekly Times revealed RRV’s former chief Paul Northey is now working at Lower Murray Water and the road agency’s last Facebook page post was in August last year.

“Regional Roads Victoria was a pale imitation of what was the Country Roads Board. The government got rid of Regional Roads Victoria without fanfare. This sale presents an opportunity for the government to put more money back into country roads,” Mr O’Brien said.

The Country Roads Board morphed into the Road Construction Authority, which ultimately became VicRoads under the Cain Government in 1989.